Page 111 of All That History
“You’re such a fucking drama queen,” Catherine teased.“You’re moving across the state, Oli, not going away to sea for a year.”
Kyle shook his head ruefully, then held up his bottle to Flynn.“I hope you knew what you were getting yourself into.Our boy’s just an emotional little guy, really.”
“Assholes,” I muttered, glaring at them both.
Catherine sighed, setting down her bottle with a wet smack.“We’ll miss you.We’ll also be ecstatic that you’ve found someone you like.”She gave Flynn a stony look.“And if he mistreats you, we’ll drive over and trash his fancy apartment.”
His ex-boyfriend had already tried that, I almost pointed out, but it didn’t seem the right time.
“It’s gonna be so weird,” I said instead.
She shrugged.“Well, yeah.Because you’ve been a sad-sack, stay-at-home loner all this time, punctuated by the odd weekend whoring it up and then feeling guilty afterwards.”This time, the look she gave Flynn was far warmer.He smiled back at her.“At least this one is getting you out of your shell.And come on, it’s not like any of this would’ve happened, if you’d been sticking around here.”
“What’re you gonna tell your parents?”Kyle looked curious.
“I already told them.They were surprisingly okay with it all.”
He nodded, as though that came as no surprise.Then glanced at Flynn.“Yours?”
A grimace.“Not yet.But I guess I’ll have to, eventually.”
Kyle winked.“I mean, I can understand the reluctance.Having to own up to dating this guy.”
“Fuck you,” I told him, mildly.
Flynn laughed.“Oh, he has skills to recommend him.”
Slapping her hand across her face, Catherine sighed dramatically.“Look, if we’re going to be talking about gay sex, I’ll need another beer.”She spread her fingers apart, to peer at Kyle.“And it’s your round.”
We could hear him grumbling almost all the way to the bar.
It was easier after that.The secret no longer being a secret, and the humor defusing whatever tension I’d predicted - feared, more likely - once they found out my plan.I’d nursed my beer, and enjoyed watching how well Flynn fit into the group.Appreciating, too, how quickly they embraced him; how rapidly it became hard to imagine that once it’d just been the three of us, not a quartet.
There was a fair crowding of empty bottles on the table by the time we called it quits.Flynn leaned in, to whisper in my ear.
“I think I drank a bit.”
I chuckled at his slight slurring.“Maybe, yeah.”
“I was nervous, that they’d not like me.”
Squeezing his knee under the table, I decided it was better not to mention the fact that I’d been wary of that possibility, too.“No worries there.You want to go home?”
He nodded, yawning extravagantly.
I patted his leg, before I pulled my hand away.“We’re gonna get going.I’d say it was a pleasure seeing you reprobates, but...”
“Oh please,” Catherine said, tone scathing.“It was the best fucking night of your life.”
I shared a glance with Flynn.I could definitely think of a few nights that stood out for different reasons, though I wasn’t going to fill my friends in on those details.
It was cold outside, after the warmth of the bar and the goodbye hugs.Flynn cranked the heater in the truck and held his hands over the vent.
“We should’ve brought my car,” he complained.“It has heated seats.”
“Sure,” I agreed, putting the truck in reverse.“And then we could enjoy them all night, when it breaks down at the side of the road.”
“You think you’re so fucking cute, don’t you.”
